What are the chances that the ongoing kerfuffle between Ohio’s largest online school and the state department of education regarding their recent attendance audit will be solved via legislation in the current lame duck session of the Ohio General Assembly? The D says they are slim. (Columbus Dispatch, 12/5/16)

Recall that teachers in Louisville Local Schools went back to work on Wednesday after a 16-day strike. They did so without approving a new contract and they are still working without one today. A vote is scheduled next week on a fact-finder’s report – intended as the basis for a new agreement – which has already been rejected by the rank-and-file twice. The Rep’s piece from yesterday does not seem filled with confidence for an

Also in the ICYMI category, the ongoing kerfuffle between the state’s largest online school and the state department of education last week took a courtroom-related turn in favor of the state just before Thanksgiving. (Columbus Dispatch, 11/23/16)

He’s still not back on the education beat, remember, but let’s not quibble about semantics in this time of giving thanks. Doug Livingston today tells us about a recent report from the State Auditor (!) showing (among other things)

Editor's note: This article was first published on June 18, 2015. It was last updated on November 23, 2016, when President-elect Donald Trump named Betsy DeVos as his pick for education secretary. Read similar posts for her and Vice President-elect Mike Pence.

President-elect Donald Trump addressed many of today’s biggest education policy issues while he was campaigning. But he’s also been talking about a number of these topics for more than a decade. For example, in The America We Deserve, published in 2000, he wrote about citizenship education, teachers unions, and school safety. And ten years later, in Think Like a Champion, he touched on American history and comprehensive education.

A member of the state board of education member tendered his resignation this week because he and his family are moving out of state. He’s got a few things to get off his chest on the way out. You can read all about them in Gongwer (Gongwer, 11/21/16) and the Dispatch. (Columbus Dispatch, 11/22/16)

As another year ends, we want you to tell us what you think were the most important Ohio education stories in 2016 and what you predict will be the top story next year.

This is the easiest task you’ll be asked to do today. It’s only two questions and should only take a minute to complete. You can preview the questions below. When you’re ready to take the survey, click here or on the image below.

Just like the voting booth, whatever you submit will be confidential. Of course, if you want to write and tell us why, we may even feature your piece on our blog.

Italy has an achievement gap—one that may sound familiar to Americans. PISA scores show a marked gap between Italian students and those of other OECD countries in both math and reading. Digging into the data, Italian education officials found their own in-country gap: Students in the wealthier north perform far better than students in the poorer south. As a result of all of this, starting in 2010, schools in Southern Italy were offered an opportunity to participate in an extended learning time program known as The Quality and Merit Project (abbreviated PQM in Italian). A new study published in the journal Economics of Education Review looks at PQM’s math and reading intervention, which consisted of additional teaching time after school in four of the poorest—and lowest-performing—regions in the country.

A couple of things to note: PQM intervention was focused not on improving PISA test scores, but on improving scores on the typical tests taken by students in lower secondary school (equivalent to grades six to eight in the U.S.). There is no enumeration of which/when/how many tests these students typically take and the researchers are not attempting to make a connection between the intervention and PISA test scores....